Whites in America are being discriminated against. To victims of actual racism, that's a laughable assertion, but it's widely accepted among sizable segments of the population.
In a survey taken last year, half of white Americans—and 60 percent of white working-class Americans—expressed the belief that discrimination against whites has become as big a problem as discrimination against minorities. (One can only guess at the percentage of Donald Trump voters who hold that opinion, but it's no doubt huge.)
Newly published research traces the roots of this belief it to a deep-seated psychological need. It finds that, for many whites, progress toward a more equal, multi-racial society decreases feeling of their own self-worth.
"When experiencing threat due to racial progress, whites might be motivated to perceive racial bias because the more they do, the better they feel about themselves," writes a research team led by Wesleyan University psychologist Clara Wilkins.
[For more of this story, written by Tom Jacobs, go to http://www.psmag.com/health-an...s-whites-self-esteem]
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